Antiskid chain



R. W. EVANS.

ANTISKID C-HAIN. APPLICATION FILED APR. 10, 1920.

1,420,533. v PatentedJufle 20,1922.

"rotten stares MEN? f -i P nUnoLrIIw. EVANS, or HAMILTON, oN'rARIQcANAnA; ASSIGNOR r0 ROBERT N.

EVANS, on HAMILTON, ONTAR'IQ'CANAD-A.

' 'A TIsKIn CHAIN.

.A pplication'filed April 10,12o. seria 'Np. 372,925.

To all whom it may concem;

,Be it known that-I, RUnoLPrI EVANS,

va citizen of the United States, residing at Hamilton, Province of Ontario and l )omin 1on of Canada, have invented certaln new and useful Improvements. in Antiskid Chains, of which thefollowing is a specification. I L t This invention relatesto, anti-skid chains, particularly adapted for "motor vehicle wheels, it more particularly relating to an improved cross chain therefor, comprising a plurality of inexpensively and readily formed side links and an improved center link, which can be readily threaded through a pair of such side links and which is likewise inexpensively and readily formed and is veryeflicient and durable in use. 7.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification, Fig. '1 is a perspective view of aside link in the flat;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the center link in theflat; Fig. 3 is a perspective view. of the center link having its projections orj lugs bent upwardly; Fig. 4: is a perspective view of this lmproved center hnkshowing an increased-number of bendable projections; Fig. 5 is a perspective view illustrating the projections of Fig. 4 upwardlybent Fig. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the centerlink shown in Fig. 4 with its eye forming projections partially bent and its side projections orlugs also bent; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the center link shown in Figs. .2 and 3 partially assembled with a pair of side links; and Fig. 8 is a perspective view ofa completed cross chain attached to portions of a pair of side chains. Fig. 9 1s a detail view of one of the end. hooks.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in theseveralfigures of the drawings.

The improved side link Qherein shown is blanked or stamped flat out of a strip cf steel of substantially the widthof the completed link and the operator, by means of a die,

first cuts out the two triangularly shaped or key-hole slots 3 in the ends of the blank flat link and then as the link is moved forward the operator cuts the concaved sides 7 Specification of Letters Patent. Pate ted J ne 20 1922 4;. forming relatively narrow intermediate rounded ends Gof'the link thus completing theshape of the link in -readiness to be bentm' the manner, shown in Figs. 7 and 8, in

- which the, two fiat portions of the link are adjacent to the concaved sideedges of the link, sothat the link is not materially Weak-i ened adjacenttofsuch concaved side edges: wh le such. concaved side edges form a narrow intermediate portion, which will fit the r portion 5.. and at the same time. cuts the enlarged ends of the. slots3 and also receive:

the eye--forming'. projections of the center links. e Inassembling,- each side linkfaccord-ing to' the'numb'er used is first threaded through the slots 3 of a companion sidelinkand then-has its-two wide'ned'ends compressed in the nannershownin Fig.7 while each end 0 link of each cross chainmaybe first threaded through the hook 9 and then have its ends compressed. in asimilar manner. or the hooks maybe passed through the eyes ofthe end links after they are completely assembled as may be found preferable in practice;v I

'In bending the side links transversely of V their length to form the eyes8, the two fiat slotted portions of the linkare brought to gether i-n su'chmanner. that the two narrow bent portions forming the eye 8 are so spaced apart that the'outer sides of these portions will-project beyond the flat portions or ends of the side link and thus make the side link. somewhat fiexible' and in practice it is :not. essential that the flat portions carrying the: slots 3 be brought into engagement through: out; the entire fiat portions 'o'f the link, it be; ingsuflicient and more desirableto have the ends only of the fia portions in contact as a1 0, Fig.1.

The improved center link 12 is likewise stamped or blanked from a flat strip of steel substantially in the manner shown in Figs. 2 and 4 according to the number of locking projections desired, the eye-formingprojections 13 and locking projections 14 all being formed at the same time. The eyeforming project-ions 13 are provided with enlarged I-shaped or T-shaped ends 15, thus for instance, in Figs. 6 and 7, and then the side links are assembled therewith as shown in Fig 7 and then the eye-forming projections'13 of the center link are compressed in such manner' that the locking projections 14 may be bent or compressed th'ere'over as shown in Fig. 8, In bending or compressing the parts of the center link the body 16 of the link is curved at each side somewhat in the direction of its length so that a portion of each pair of end projections will overlap" the inner edges ofthe T or I-formed heads of the eye-forming projections 13, and thus prevent them from pulling out while the overlapping of the heads of the portions 13 by the locking projections 14 will prevent the separation of these projections 13 from the body ofthe link 16. Thecenter link is also bent transversely of its length to conform to the shape ofthe shoe. The flattening of the locking projections 14 is obtained by placing the center link in a press and firmly bending down the projections 14 over the heads 15 of the center link, and the center link is also placed in a press and the two sides or edges thereof are so bent that the end locking projections 14 will be bent around or over the inner edges of the heads thus to prevent,

"as hereinbefore stated, the pulling out of the heads in the direction of the length of the cross chain. H

In other words, the T-shaped heads are pierlapped by portions of the projections ing of the cross chain on the shoe is materially prevented, that is to say, the outer end of each hook 9, which forms an inwardly extendingupper or lower hook portion, is bent or twisted laterally from a In practice one hook 9 is reversely bent position parallel to the link to a laterally inclined position. Thus, the upper hook portion of hook 9 at the left of Fig. 8 is twisted laterally to the right, whereas the lower hook portion of hook 9 at the right of Fig. 8 is twisted to the left. Hence, one

changed without departing from the spirit or scope of the present improvement as delined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A center link for an anti-skid cross chain comprising a relatively'wide body portion having a plurality of spaced locking projections at eachside and also'having a pair of narrow eye-forming portions terminating in heads, the latter adapted to be overlapped by the locking projections, a pair of said locking projections also bent in the direction of the length of the center link to overlap the inner edges of each head.

2. A center link for an anti-skid cross chain comprisinga relatively widebody portion having at each side a plurality of locking projections spaced apart and havingat its ends a pair of relatively narrow eye forming projections terminating in I-formed heads, the eye-forming projections being bent to bring the heads into engagement with the body, and the locking projections being bent to overlap such heads, and then clinched over the inner edges of the heads adjacent to their juncture points.

3. A center link for an anti-skid chain comprising a body portion of sheetmetal having a plurality of locking projections at the outer edges thereof and also having a pair of eye-forming projectionshaving en larged ends, the eye-forming projections being bent to form loops and to bring the enlarged ends into contact with the body of the link, and the locking projections being bent to overlap the enlarged ends of the eye-forming projections one of said locking projections and an enlarged end being interlocked by forcing a part of the first over an edge of the second. 7

4. A center link foran anti-skid chain comprising a body portion of sheet. metal having a locking projection at each side and also having a pair of eye-forming projections having enlarged ends, said eye-forming projections being bent to form loops and to bring the enlarged ends into contact with the body of the link, and the locking projections being bent to overlap the enlarged ends of the eye-forming projections, said locking projections also being clinched over the inner edges of the enlarged ends, and said center link being also bent trans- 5 versely of its length thereby to conform substantially to the shape of a tire.

5. A center link for an anti-skid chain comprising a body portion having a locking projection at each side and also having a.

10 pair of loop-forming portions provided with heads and adapted to be overlapped by the locking projections, portions of said locking projections being bent relatively to the remaining portions thereof to overlap the inner edges of the heads.

Signed at WentWorth, Province Ontario, Dominion of Canada, this 3rd day of April,

RUDOLPH W. EVANS. 

